OBR Daily Commentary

(ASCO) Aug 30, 2018 - The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) warns that some of the practices used by pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) companies could hinder patient access to timely, high-quality cancer care.
In a new position statement released today, ASCO describes a range of PBM practices that, while they may be intended to help control costs in cancer care, might compromise physicians’ ability to provide the right treatment at the right time for people with cancer; place cancer patients at risk of serious complications due to drug dispensing errors; or drive up out-of-pocket costs for patients. ASCO also recommends a series of actions to address PBM practices that interfere with the delivery of prescribed therapies.
“Examples are emerging of PBM practices that may place patients at risk of life-threatening complications,” said ASCO President Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO.

While reality demonstrates that these practices do create issues with regards to access and financial toxicity, it is a bit one-sided in that if the PBM is doing their job, there are patient support benefits. The key issue here is that some pharmacies are more efficient and better at providing these services than others. Patient follow-up, compliance and adherence monitoring are among the benefits. No question that there are major disconnects, and fixes are needed. Unfortunately, they are a result of our disjointed health care system.